II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5137 

To identify property located in the territory of certain foreign trade partners 

that is owned or controlled by United States persons, necessary to access 

a port, harbor, or marine terminal, and has been nationalized or expropriated, and to prohibit certain actions by vessels that have landed at 

such ports, harbors, or marine terminals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 

Mr. HAGERTY (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mrs. BRITT, Mr. 

BUDD, and Mr. BARRASSO) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To identify property located in the territory of certain foreign 

trade partners that is owned or controlled by United 

States persons, necessary to access a port, harbor, or 

marine terminal, and has been nationalized or expropriated, and to prohibit certain actions by vessels that have 

landed at such ports, harbors, or marine terminals, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Defending American 

3 Property Abroad Act of 2024’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT7 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com8 mittees’’ means— 

9 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

10 and Governmental Affairs, the Committee on 

11 Foreign Relations, the Committee on Finance, 

12 and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

13 Senate; and 

14 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security, 

15 the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Com16 mittee on Ways and Means, and the Permanent 

17 Select Committee on Intelligence of the House 

18 of Representatives. 

19 (2) COVERED FOREIGN TRADE PARTNER.—The 

20 term ‘‘covered foreign trade partner’’ means a coun21 try in the Western Hemisphere that has in effect a 

22 free trade agreement with the United States. 

23 (3) PASSENGER VESSEL.—The term ‘‘passenger 

24 vessel’’ means a vessel that— 

25 (A) is authorized to carry 149 or more 

26 passengers; 


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1 (B) has onboard sleeping facilities for each 

2 passenger; 

3 (C) is on a voyage that embarks or dis4 embarks passengers; and 

5 (D) is not engaged in a coastwise voyage 

6 subject to chapter 105 of title 46, United 

7 States Code. 

8 (4) PROHIBITED PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘pro9 hibited property’’ means any port, harbor, or marine 

10 terminal— 

11 (A) that is located within the territory of 

12 a covered foreign trade partner; 

13 (B) that is accessible only through land 

14 that is owned, held, or controlled, directly or in15 directly, by a United States person; and 

16 (C) if an agency or official of the govern17 ment of the covered foreign trade partner has, 

18 on or after January 1, 2024— 

19 (i) nationalized, forcibly limited, or ex20 propriated the land described in subpara21 graph (B); 

22 (ii) repudiated or nullified any con23 tract, permit, concession, easement, or 

24 similar authorization with a United States 

25 person related to that land; or 


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1 (iii) taken any other action that has 

2 the effect of seizing ownership or control of 

3 that land. 

4 (5) RELEVANT PORT INFRASTRUCTURE.—The 

5 term ‘‘relevant port infrastructure’’ means the fol6 lowing infrastructure at a port or harbor: 

7 (A) Conveyors and other equipment used 

8 to load or unload freight or passenger vessels. 

9 (B) Roads and pathways used to load or 

10 unload freight or passenger vessels. 

11 (C) Docks and piers used to load or unload 

12 freight or passenger vessels. 

13 (D) Moorings, dolphins, or other structures 

14 used for anchoring freight or passenger vessels. 

15 (E) Silos, domes, or other structures used 

16 for the storage of any good, ware, article, mer17 chandise, or other freight. 

18 (F) Offices, facilities, and other buildings 

19 used for the administration and security of the 

20 port or harbor. 

21 (6) UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘United 

22 States’’ includes the 50 States, the District of Co23 lumbia, and any territory or possession of the 

24 United States. 


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1 (7) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

2 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

3 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law4 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

5 United States; or 

6 (B) an entity not less than 50 percent of 

7 the ownership interest in which is owned by 

8 United States citizens. 

9 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF PROHIBITED PROPERTY. 

10 Not later than 60 days after the date of the enact11 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

12 consultation with and with the concurrence of the Sec13 retary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State, shall— 

14 (1) identify and designate all prohibited prop15 erty; 

16 (2) provide a list of all prohibited property des17 ignated under paragraph (1) to— 

18 (A) the agencies and officials within the 

19 Department of Homeland Security, the Depart20 ment of the Treasury, and the Department of 

21 State responsible for the implementation of sec22 tion 4; and 

23 (B) the appropriate congressional commit24 tees; and 


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1 (3) publish the list required under paragraph 

2 (2) in the Federal Register. 

3 SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS ON USE OF PROHIBITED PROPERTY. 

4 The President shall prohibit any vessel loaded or pre5 viously held at a port, harbor, or marine terminal that is 

6 designated as prohibited property under section 3(1) 

7 from— 

8 (1) importing into the United States any good; 

9 (2) releasing into the United States any good; 

10 (3) docking any passenger vessel in the United 

11 States; 

12 (4) releasing into the United States any pas13 senger from a passenger vessel; or 

14 (5) dry docking, completing repair work, refur15 bishing, victualing, refueling, or conducting any 

16 other servicing or maintenance-related activities. 

17 SEC. 5. DIRECTING UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTA18 TIVE TO ADDRESS PROHIBITED PROPERTY IN 

19 USMCA JOINT REVIEW. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—As part of the consultations re21 quired by section 611 of the United States-Mexico-Canada 

22 Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4611) before 

23 a joint review, the United States Trade Representative 

24 shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 

25 a report on the objections the Trade Representative will 


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1 raise related to instances in which the government of a 

2 USMCA country has— 

3 (1) nationalized, forcibly limited, or expropri4 ated land described in section 2(4)(B); 

5 (2) repudiated or nullified any contract, permit, 

6 concession, easement, or similar authorization with a 

7 United States person related to such land; or 

8 (3) taken any other action that has the effect 

9 of seizing ownership or control of such land. 

10 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) JOINT REVIEW.—The term ‘‘joint review’’ 

12 means a review conducted under the process pro13 vided for in article 34.7 of the USMCA relating to 

14 extension of the term of the USMCA. 

15 (2) USMCA.—The term ‘‘USMCA’’ has the 

16 meaning given that term in section 3 of the United 

17 States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation 

18 Act (19 U.S.C. 4502). 

19 (3) USMCA COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘USMCA 

20 country’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

21 202(a) of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agree22 ment Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4531(a)). 

23 SEC. 6. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

24 (a) REPORTS ON DESIGNATIONS OF PROHIBITED

25 PROPERTY.—Not later than 1 year after the date of the 


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1 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the 

2 date that is 5 years after such date of enactment, the Sec3 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Sec4 retary of the Treasury and the Secretary of State, shall 

5 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re6 port on— 

7 (1) the number of designations of prohibited 

8 property made under section 3(1); 

9 (2) the number of freight vessels that were pre10 vented from importing or releasing any goods into 

11 the United States under the prohibition under sec12 tion 4; 

13 (3) the number of passenger vessels that were 

14 prevented from docking or releasing passengers into 

15 the United States under that prohibition; and 

16 (4) the number of vessels that were prevented 

17 from dry docking, completing repair work, refur18 bishing, victualling, refueling, or conducting any 

19 other servicing or maintenance-related activities 

20 under that prohibition. 

21 (b) REPORTS ON ACTIONS BY COVERED FOREIGN

22 TRADE PARTNERS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

23 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until 

24 the date that is 5 years after such date of enactment, the 


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1 United States Trade Representative shall submit to the 

2 appropriate congressional committees a report on— 

3 (1) the number of governments of covered for4 eign trade partners that have— 

5 (A) nationalized, forcibly limited, or expro6 priated land described in section 2(4)(B); 

7 (B) repudiated or nullified any contract, 

8 permit, concession, easement, or similar author9 ization with a United States person related to 

10 such land; or 

11 (C) taken any other action that has the ef12 fect of seizing ownership or control of such 

13 land; and 

14 (2) the impact of the actions described in para15 graph (1) by the government of a covered foreign 

16 trade partner on the trade relationship between the 

17 United States and the covered foreign trade partner. 

18 (c) REPORTS ON ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS.—Not 

19 later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act, and annually thereafter until the date that is 5 years 

21 after such date of enactment, the Secretary of State shall 

22 submit to the appropriate congressional committees a re23 port on— 


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1 (1) the economic implications of actions de2 scribed in subsection (b)(1) by the governments of 

3 covered foreign trade partners; and 

4 (2) the impact of such actions on the economic 

5 assessment of the investment climate for the covered 

6 foreign trade partners. 

7 SEC. 7. TERMINATION AND EXTENSION OF REQUIREMENTS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by subsections 

9 (b) and (c), the requirements of this Act, and any prohibi10 tion imposed under section 4, shall terminate on the date 

11 that is 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 

12 Act. 

13 (b) TERMINATION FOR SPECIFIC COUNTRIES.—Be14 fore the termination date under subsection (a), the Presi15 dent may terminate the requirements of this Act with re16 spect to a covered foreign trade partner if the President 

17 determines and reports to the appropriate congressional 

18 committees, not later than 15 days before terminating 

19 such requirements, that— 

20 (1) the government of the covered foreign trade 

21 partner has reversed or curtailed any actions de22 scribed in section 2(4)(C); or 

23 (2) the termination of such requirements with 

24 respect to the covered foreign trade partner is in the 

25 vital national security interests of the United States. 


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1 (c) EXTENSION OF REQUIREMENTS.—After the ter2 mination date under subsection (a), the President may ex3 tend, for 1 or more 2-year periods, the requirements of 

4 this Act (including the reports required by section 6) with 

5 respect to a covered foreign trade partner if the President 

6 certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that 

7 the government of the covered foreign trade partner con8 tinues to engage in actions described in section 2(4)(C). 

Æ 


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